The invention relates generally to thermal management systems, and more particularly, to systems and methods for packaging synthetic jets.
As the size of semiconductor devices has continued to shrink and circuit densities have increased accordingly, thermal management of these devices has become more challenging. In the past, thermal management in semiconductor devices was often addressed through the use of forced convective air cooling, either alone or in conjunction with various heat sink devices, and was accomplished through the use of fans. However, fan-based cooling systems are undesirable due to the noise attendant to their use. Moreover, the use of fans requires relatively large moving parts, and correspondingly high power inputs, in order to achieve the desired level of heat transfer. As a result of the moving parts, fan reliability is also an issue Furthermore, while fans are adequate for providing global movement of air over electronic devices, they generally provide insufficient localized cooling to provide adequate heat dissipation for the hot spots that typically exist in semiconductor devices and in many types of electronic equipment.
More recently, thermal management systems have been developed which utilize synthetic jets. Such systems are more energy efficient than comparable fan-based systems, and also offer reduced levels of noise and electromagnetic interference. The use of synthetic jets has proven very efficient in providing localized heat dissipation, and hence can be used to address hot spots in semiconductor devices and electronic equipment. Synthetic jets may be used in conjunction with fan-based systems to provide thermal management systems that afford both global and localized heat dissipation.
Despite their notable advantages, however, there is a need in the art for further improvements in synthetic jet ejectors. In particular, synthetic jets need to be packaged in fins that provide reduced thermal resistance and steer fluid flow in the jet, for optimal performance. However, such packaging is complex.
Therefore, there is a need in the art for an optimally packaged thermal management system.